Metallic racket with reinforcing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A racket apparatus including an elliptical metallic frame and a bridge having integral sockets at each end which receives portions of the frame adjacent the throat and supports the strings which are to be secured adjacent thereto in a manner to reduce breakage of the frame.

United States Patent [1 1 Nishimura Oct. 28, 1975 Related US.Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 415,362, Nov. 13,

1973, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 273/73 G [51] Int. Cl. A63B 49/12 [58] Field of Search273/73 R, 73 C, 73 D, 73 E,

273/73 G, 73 H, 73 F [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 455,6327/1891 Malings 273/73 D 1,186,283 6/1916 Coddington 273/73 G X 1,588,1406/1926 Penny r 273/73 H 1,937,787 12/1933 Robinson..... 273/73 H2,171,223 8/1939 Robinson 273/73 H 2,224,567 12/1940 Reach 273/73 D X2,610,056 9/1952 Lovell 273/73 D 2,626,804 1/1953 Robinson 273/73 F3,528,658 9/1970 Cheris et al.. 273/73 G X 3,582,073 6/1971 Melnick273/73 D 3,612,526 10/1971 Brull 273/73 H X 3,642,283 2/1972 Wilkens..273/73 D X 3,664,668 5/1972 Held 273/73 H X 3,702,189 11/1972 Galich273/73 D X 3,702,701 l1/l972 Vaughn et a1. 273/73 G X FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 151,916 6/1953 Australia 273/73 D 798,744 ll/l968Canada.... 273/73 H 736,167 9/1932 France..... 273/73 G 1,578,059 8/1969France 273/73 G 21,648 9/1913 United Kingdom.... 273/73 D 228,650 2/1925United Kingdom.... 273/73 H 234,021 5/1925 United Kingdom.... 273/73 D252,480 6/1926 United Kingdom 273/73 H OTHER PUBLICATIONS The SportingGoods Dealer, Dec. 1971, p. 141.

Primary Examiner-Richard .1. Apley Attorney, Agent, or Firm-A. YatesDowell, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A racket apparatus including an elliptical metallic frameand a bridge having integral sockets at each end which receives portionsof the frame adjacent the throat and supports the strings which are tobe secured adjacent thereto in a manner to reduce breakage of the frame.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 3,915,453

METALLIC RACKET WITH REINFORCING APPARATUS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No.415,362, filed Nov. 13, 1973 and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates generally to a metallic racket and particularly to a rackethaving an elliptical metallic frame which is reinforced adjacent thethroat portion thereof by a bridge having integral sockets at each endwhich both receive the portions of the frame adjacent the throat andsupport the strings adjacent thereto.

2. Description of the Prior Art The field of designing and constructinggame rackets such as those used in tennis and squash is a highlydeveloped art as well as one in which a great deal of inventive effortis continually directed. One of the latest innovations in racketconstruction, and one which has been gaining in its acceptance withinsports circles, is the metallic racket. Metallic rackets are normallymanufactured using any one of a variety of metals such as steel oraluminum tubing or channeling which are appropriately shaped to form aloop or elliptical stringing frame which tapers inwardly at one end toform the throat of the racket and which may further extend away from theframe to form a portion of the racket handle. In order to complete thestringing frame, that is, interconnect the portions of the tubing orchanneling which form the throat of the racket, many styles andstructures of bridges have been mounted therebetween.

Bridges, however, are not simply provided to act as a portion of thestringing frame but are often designed to serve a dual function as ameans for reinforcing the frame. Further, the stresses, such as thosecaused by the tension of the strings or those created by the impactforce of a ball or those caused when the tip of the racket isaccidentally hit against the ground or other solid surface, areconcentrated mostly at the throat portion of the racket. Accordingly,the bridge must particularly provide for reinforcement of this area ofthe frame.

In an effort to increase the effectiveness of the bridge, many types andstyles have been employed. Some bridges include a substantially U-shapedor curvilinear portion which is welded, glued, riveted, taped orotherwise attached or spliced to the portions of the frame adjacent thethroat. In one conventional steel racket, the bridge is welded to theframe. However, it has been observed that, in some instances, the heatof the welding apparatus has caused a degeneration of the metal whichmay be directly responsible for a subsequent breakage of the splice orthe metal frame or bridge adjacent thereto. Further in other mountingtechniques in which metal is bound to metal, unwanted vibrations may beestablished between the metals and repeated use may be sufficient toactually loosen the splice or joint.

As previously mentioned, the bridge is also used as a portion of thestringing frame. In this respect one of the primary disadvantages ofconventional metal rackets is that the throat portion of the frame whichis spliced to the bridge is drilled or bored to provide holes throughwhich the racket strings can pass or through which various rivets orpins may be inserted to effect the splice.

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Such operations which effectively remove a portion of the throat are notdesirous in that a net reduction is obtained in the effective strengthof the throat and the likelihood of breakage at the throat becomes aneven greater possibility.

Some examples of the prior art include US. Pat. Nos. 3,612,526 to Brull;3,702,701 to Vaughn et al.; 3,582,073 to Melnick et al.; 3,664,668 toHeld; British Pat. No. 252,480 to Donald; and French Pat. No. 1,578,059to Chervin et al.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is embodied in a metallicracket having a reinforcing bridge provided with sockets which areintegrally formed at both ends thereof for receiving portions of theracket frame adjacent the throat and such bridge includes stringingpassages which alone support the racket strings which are adjacent tothe throat. Each socket of the bridge is connected by a rivet throughthe upper end thereof to the frame portion of the racket adjacent thethroat and a resilient cushion is provided between the racket and eachsocket of the bridge.

It is the primary purpose of this invention to provide a rugged metallicracket having an improved splice between the bridge and the frame byproviding a bridge which supports some of the racket strings and issecured to the frame in such a manner that no holes, bores or cuts,which might tend to create areas of weakness, are made along the throatportion of the racket.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rugged metallic racketby improving the strength of the splice between the bridge and the frameby providing two integrally connected sockets which fully envelop eachportion of the frame adjacent to the throat portion and which areattached thereto by string guiding rivets.

A further object of this invention is to provide a racket in which thesplice between the bridge and frame is cushioned to reduce or preventadverse vibrations of the riveted joint and to buffer the stressestransmitted between the bridge and the frame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view showing theracket of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing a prior artmethod of connecting a frame and bridge.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the bridge and theframe of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to thedrawing, a generally tubular steel racket frame 10 is provided having agenerally elliptical head portion H connected by downwardly curvedthroat portions T to a pair of generally parallel'handle formingportions G and G. An arcuate bridge 11 spans the throat and connects theopposite ends of the head portion in a manner to substantially completethe elliptical config'tiiation of the racket. A ifmg substantiallynon-strEiEhable string S of nylon, gilt, er the like normally il'nterwoven under tension across the head and the bridge in aconventional manner so that a player can strike a ball.

With particular reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the arcuate bridge 11 isconstructed of relatively strong material such as steel, steel alloy,aluminum or aluminum alloy, or the like, and includes a central portion12 having a hollow generally rectangular cross-section withsubstantially tubular socks 13 and 13' at each end. A resilient cushion14 of rubber, cork, thermoplastic material, or the like is located ateach end of the head portion of the frame in a position to be receivedwithin and extend substantially through the sockets 13 and 13 andsubstantially prevent direct contact therebetween. The cushion 14absorbs a substantial portion of the impact force normally transmittedthrough the bridge 1 1 to the frame when the strings contact a ball.Ordinarily the inner and outer surfaces of the head portion H of theframe are connected by a plurality of hollow grommets 15 to permit thestring to be threaded therethrough and which prevent the sharp edges ofthe metal frame from cutting the string.

Within the hollow central portion 12 of the bridge, a plurality ofopenings 16 are provided for receiving the racket string. Normally thestring extends downwardly through one opening, across a portion of thebridge and then upwardly through the next adjacent opening. To preventthe edges of the openings from cutting the string S, a hollow grommet orstring guide tube 17, preferably constructed of thermoplastic material,is provided for each opening. The string is threaded through the guidetubes 17 and, because the string is in the central portion of the racketwhere most of the impact force is received, such force is partiallyabsorbed by the cushions 14 at each end of the bridge and the amount offorce transmitted to the frame is reduced.

Since the sockets l3 and 13' are in superposed relationship with thecurved sections of the head portion just above the throat portion T,there has been a tendency for the superposed portions to slip relativeto each other, particularly after the racket has been in service. Inorder to prevent such slippage, a hole 18 is drilled through the sockets13 and 13' adjacent the outer ends thereof and through the underlyinghead portions of the frame, after which a hollow rivet 19 is insertedthrough the openings to lock the members in fixed relationship and toprovide a guide for the string, as illustrated best in FIG. 3.

It should be noted that the hole 18 through which the rivet 19 securesthe bridge to the frame is made through the portion of the frame whichis just above the reversely curved throat portion. Further, each of thesockets includes a raised stringing or tunnel portion 20 through whichthe racket string S is strung. The raised portion 20 is integrallyformed with each of the socket portions 13 and 13' and includesstringing holes 21 in which are disposed flexible grommets or stringingguides 22 which prevent the edges of the holes 21 from cutting thestring. Also, although the raised portion 20 is shown in FIG. 3 asextending along the socket portion a distance sufficient for allowingtwo stringing holes 21 to be properly spaced therein, the length thereofmay be extended to allow for additional string holes 21.

The primary purpose of the raised portions 20 is to permit the string tobe maintained by the socket portion of the bridge without having todrill, cut or otherwise weaken any portion of the racket throat in orderto provide a support for the string. Therefore, not only are some of thestresses which are transmitted to the throat through the bridge absorbedor buffered by the cushion 14, but the amount of stress which the throatcan safely resist is increased as there is no weakening of the throat asis usual to provide support or openings for the string.

Referring now to the prior art illustrated in FIG. 2, since the bridge25 and the socket 26 are constituted separately, sliding has oftenoccurred in the socket after the racket has been used over a longperiod. Also the holes 27 for the string which extend through the throathave weakened the area in which the greatest stresses are transmitted.

As previously described, with applicants structure in which the bridgeincludes integrally formed tubular sockets which are riveted to theframe at a point above the throat, the sliding or relative movementbetween the sockets, frame and bridge is not incurred even after theracket has been used for extended periods of time. Further, the throatportion of the racket is not weakened by string holes or other openingsor reduced portions and therefore is capable of sustaining increasedstresses.

I claim:

1. A strung game racket comprising a generally elliptical head portionconnected by a pair of downwardly and reversely curved throat armportions to a handle portion, said throat arm portions beingimperforate, an arcuate bridge member spanning the throat and connectingopposite ends of said head portion to complete the ellipticalconfiguration thereof, said bridge member having a relatively narrowcentral portion with at least an upper surface and an enlarged tubularsocket integrally formed at each end, said central portion having aplurality of openings extending therethrough for receiving the racketstringing, each of said tubular sockets receiving the lowermost curvedsection of said head portion and the upper portion of said throat arms,means mounted between said tubular sockets and said head and throat armportions for cushioning and absorbing the impact force transmittedthrough the bridge member to said head and throat arm portions, a singlehollow rivet extending through and adjacent to .each of the outer endsonly of said tubular sockets,

through said cushioning means and through said lower most curved sectionof said head portion to lock said bridge member thereto and forreceiving stringing therethrough, the upper surface of each of saidtubular sockets being integrally formed with a raised string guideportion intermediate two upper surface only string holes whereby astring looped through these latter holes will engage the undersurface ofsaid raised portion in spaced relation to said upper portion of saidthroat arms, and with said upper surface string holes and said raisedportion being located between the endmost central portion string holesand said hollow rivets.

2. The structure of claim 1 including a plurality of grommets extendingthrough said head and said bridge member for receiving said stringing.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which at least said head and throat armportions are made of metal.

1. A strung game racket comprising a generally elliptical head portionconnected by a pair of downwardly and reversely curved throat armportions to a handle portion, said throat arm portions beingimperforate, an arcuate bridge member spanning the throat and connectingopposite ends of said head portion to complete the ellipticalconfiguration thereof, said bridge member having a relatively narrowcentral portion with at least an upper surface and an enlarged tubularsocket integrally formed at each end, said central portion having aplurality of openings extending therethrough for receiving the racketstringing, each of said tubular sockets receiving the lowermost curvedsection of said head portion and the upper portion of said throat arms,means mounted between said tubular sockets and said head and throat armportions for cushioning and absorbing the impact force transmittedthrough the bridge member to said head and throat arm portions, a singlehollow rivet extending through and adjacent to each of the outer endsonly of said tubular sockets, through said cushioning means and throughsaid lower most curved section of said head portion to lock said bridgemember thereto and for receiving stringing therethrough, the uppersurface of each of said tubular sockets being integrally formed with araised string guide portion intermediate two upper surface only stringholes whereby a string looped through these latter holes will engage theundersurface of said raised portion in spaced relation to said upperportion of said throat arms, and with said upper surface string holesand said raised portion being located between the endmost centralportion string holes and said hollow rivets.
 2. The structure of claim 1including a plurality of grommets extending through said head and saidbridge member for receiving said stringing.
 3. The structure of claim 1in which at least said head and throat arm portions are made of metal.